On the occasion of the start of the world’s leading trade fair drinktec, the VDMA Food Processing and Packaging Machinery Association sees the industry in good shape despite major challenges. “The mood in our industry is mostly good. Contrary to the trend in the overall mechanical engineering sector, exports of food processing and packaging machinery continued to grow in the first half of 2025.We expect an increase in turnover this year, but it is currently difficult to forecast a growth rate” states Richard Clemens, Managing Director of the VDMA Food Processing and Packaging Machinery Association.

German exports continue to rise

With an average of 84 percent in export sales, the food processing and packaging machinery industry is one of the strongest exporting sectors in German mechanical engineering. In 2024, foreign deliveries increased by 6 percent to 10.6 billion euros, followed by another growth of 6 percednt in the first half of 2025. The EU-27 markets, which account for 34 percent of exports, are proving very robust and grew by a total of 10.2 percent during the period under review.

For many years, the USA has been by far the most important market for German manufacturers of food processing and packaging machinery. Exports have risen steadily, reaching a peak of €1.8 billion in 2024. In the first half of 2025, German deliveries were 0.4 percent below the previous year’s record level.

Richard Clemens, Managing Director of the VDMA Food Processing and Packaging Machinery Association, expects many visitors from the US to come to drinktec despite the tariff issue. “With over 1.5 million employees, the American food industry is the strongest sector in the US manufacturing industry. Automation and capacity expansion are considered the strongest drivers for investment. American companies are unable to meet their technology needs locally” says Clemens, pointing to EU imports of food processing and packaging machinery, which amounted to €5 billion in 2024.

China is also one of the important markets for mechanical engineering companies. German exports of food processing and packaging machinery to the People’s Republic have been declining since 2023 and fell by 29 percent in the first half of 2025 compared to the previous year. In addition to the ongoing economic weakness, China’s “buy local” strategy is also leaving its mark. “China still offers business potential for German companies – especially in the high-performance sector. However, this requires companies to make strategic decisions in favour of localisation in order to be competitive in the market,” comments Clemens.

More than half of the exports are delivered to countries outside Europe. Strong momentum with double-digit growth rates came in the first half of 2025 from nearly 40 countries in Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America, including Brazil, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Vietnam, Egypt, Algeria, Ghana, Nigeria, and Tanzania. “The industry is very broadly positioned worldwide, which basically ensures good market opportunities,” summarises Clemens.

Europe leads the global machinery trade

The global food and beverage industry is one of the most dynamic growth sectors and is the most important industrial sector in many countries. As a result, not only the German exports are rising, but the global trade volume of food and packaging machinery has also been growing steadily for many years, reaching a preliminary peak of almost €54.5 billion in 2024.

European companies are clear leaders in the international trade of food and packaging machinery. Almost 70 percent of global trade comes from Europe. “This makes food and packaging machinery manufacturing the most successful export industry in the entire European mechanical engineering sector due to its high level of specialisation, performance, and innovative strength,” states Clemens. Italy and Germany are at the top of the list of the most important supplier countries, each with a 20 percent share of global trade. Germany is even stronger in some sub-sectors: in 2024, one in three internationally traded beverage packaging machines and one in two brewery machines came from Germany.

Positive market outlook – global beverage consumption and varieties on the rise

The future outlook for technology providers is positive, as the global beverage industry is growing. According to Euromonitor International, around 1.1 trillion liters of bottled and packaged beverages were sold worldwide in 2024. According to forecasts by the British market research company, sales will increase by around 14 percent by 2028. Euromonitor continues to predict double-digit growth in the Africa/Middle East and Asia/Pacific regions during this period, while beverage sales in saturated markets will increase only slightly. Here, the focus is on qualitative growth and product innovation.

According to Euromonitor, 7,000 new non-alcoholic beverage products were launched worldwide in 2024 alone, with just under 6,300 new alcoholic beverage products. The largest share of innovations came from the US, Canada, and European countries.

drinktec 2025 addresses important topics and trends

Demographic developments, health and nutrition trends, and ever-shorter product life cycles are shaping the development of the global beverage and liquid food industry. In addition, this industry is particularly concerned with high food safety and quality requirements, as well as efficient and sustainable production processes and packaging concepts, which are being taken to the next level through the use of data and digital tools.

The beverage and liquid food industry is focusing on intelligent recycling systems and sustainable resource management in both the production and packaging processes. “We see our industry as an important part of the solution here. After all, who else but the mechanical engineering industry can make a decisive contribution through innovation to making the processes in manufacturing companies economical, efficient, and sustainable at the same time,” Clemens states. In this context, digitalisation plays a key role in identifying potential for savings, optimisation, and improvement along the value chain.

When it comes to trends, Clemens sees drinktec as a clear source of inspiration. Growing health awareness, the desire for self-optimisation, new recipes, functional ingredients, and the increasing importance of proteins in beverages offer new business potential.

Tate & Lyle and Cryptobiotix’s breakthrough ex-vivo^* study shows that sucralose does not impact the gut microbiota, while other low and no calorie sweeteners have potentially beneficial health effects

A new, first-of-its-kind study has identified unique and potentially beneficial interactions between certain low and no calorie sweeteners, including stevia, and the human gut microbiota. Tate & Lyle PLC, a world leader in ingredient solutions for healthier food and drink, partnered with Cryptobiotix, pioneers in preclinical gastrointestinal research, on the study.

Dr. Davide Risso, molecular biology specialist and Tate & Lyle’s Head of Nutrition Research, led the project to explore the potential impact of certain low and no calorie sweeteners on the gut environment in both healthy individuals and those with type 2 diabetes. The research involved taking samples from co-living adults consuming a similar diet – to lower the potential variation introduced by differences in long-term diet, a major driver of microbiota composition. The doses of low and no calorie sweeteners used were based on actual intakes, regulations and amounts that are generally included in foods and beverages during different timepoints.

Results from the pre-clinical study, published in the leading peer reviewed, open-access journal the International Journal of Food Sciences and Nutrition, found that some of the studied low calorie and no calorie sweeteners had no impact on the gut microbiota, while others had potential beneficial health effects.

Using Cryptobiotix’s cutting-edge SIFR^® (“cipher”) technology to recreate the gut environment outside of the human body, the research partners found that sweeteners, such as sucralose, do not impact the microbial composition of the gut. Furthermore, other sweeteners, including stevia, have a beneficial impact on the gut microbiota as they were found to be easily fermented and increase the density of certain health-supporting bacteria, with the production of short-chain fatty acids.

The study adds to the strong scientific evidence demonstrating the beneficial role low and no calorie sweeteners can play when used as a part of a balanced diet. Assessments of additional low and no calorie sweeteners, including allulose and erythritol, are being completed and details will be shared in due course.

Dr. Davide Risso, Tate & Lyle’s Head of Nutrition Research, said:
“In this study, the low and no calorie sweeteners we have assessed are shown to have either no impact on the gut microbiota or to offer potential health benefits beyond their established sugar and calorie reduction benefits. Human clinical trials will be required to confirm the potential health benefits. At Tate & Lyle, we’re committed to advancing understanding around the role of low and no calorie sweeteners in the diet and sharing knowledge in this emerging field as a purpose-led, science-driven company.”

Dr Pieter Van den Abbeele, Cryptobiotix’s Chief Scientific Officer, said:
“Cryptobiotix was founded with the ambition of providing accurate insights into the impact and behaviour of ingredients in relation to the gut microbiome. This study provides much-needed evidence to consider the potential benefits of sweeteners individually, rather than as a uniform whole. The robustness and validation work that went into the SIFR® technology used, allowed us to pinpoint specific health-promoting pathways in relation to specific low and no calorie sweeteners.”

^*In ex vivo studies, living tissues are directly taken from a living organism and studied in a laboratory with minimal alterations to the organism’s natural conditions.

Euromed’s natural ingredient Pomanox^® shows potential to help reduce food intake

According to a recently published clinical study by the department of Dietetics, Nutrition and Biological Sciences, those supplementing with Euromed’s natural extract Pomanox^® showed significantly lower levels of hunger and a desire to eat, as well as higher levels of satiety, compared to a placebo group.

In the preliminary, independent, placebo-controlled study conducted at Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh1, twenty-eight healthy subjects were given either three-week supplementation with Pomanox^® or a placebo. During week three, satiety parameters were determined on a testing day after participants ingested breakfast and lunch with pomegranate juice (PJ). The results suggest that subjects in the Pomanox^® group with the PJ preload were generally more satisfied than those given the placebo. Participants were also less hungry after Pomanox^® intake with PJ during the meal than those who consumed placebo juice and capsules. Scores from the visual analogue scales (VAS), which record subjective sensations, showed significantly lower levels of hunger and a desire to eat, as well as higher levels of fullness and satisfaction, thus greater levels of satiety in participants consuming Pomanox^® with PJ, compared to the placebo. These participants also liked the smell of the meal significantly more than the placebo group. Interestingly, the consumption of pomegranate extract was associated with a significantly lower amount of food intake during the satiety session compared with the placebo group.

While preliminary, these findings confirm the appetite-regulating effect of polyphenol-rich extracts reported in previous studies, suggesting possible novel new approaches to reducing risk factors for obesity and compulsive eating, and providing more enjoyable meals while dieting.

Andrea Zangara, Scientific Marketing Manager at Euromed, says: “We are very pleased to see these promising results, as they further support the efficacy and safety of Pomanox®, expanding its numerous evidence-based health applications to include weight management and behavioural support. Pomanox^® is available in different formats and strengths, and extracted using safe and eco-friendly, water-only technologies (Pure-Hydro Process^®) as with all the other ingredients in our line of Mediterranean Fruit and Vegetable Extracts™. Their production is vertically integrated as they originate from selected fruits grown in the Mediterranean region – close to our dedicated manufacturing plant and in accordance with strict and transparent quality control protocols. In summary, they are ideal for inclusion in premium dietary supplements, functional foods and pharmaceuticals.”